Integrity Initiative won't be adopted this year

Woodbine Entertainment Thursday provided a new update regarding the recently announced Standardbred Racing Integrity and Accountability Initiative (SRIAI), which will now not be adopted in 2018. Clay Horner, who has been working on the initiative with Meadowlands' chairman Jeff Gural, said he hopes for a 2019 implementation.

A press release issued Thursday afternoon (Feb. 8) stated that Woodbine Entertainment "...is working through the specifics of the SRIAI. The principles are being worked through very thoughtfully with our racing regulators, the AGCO."

The press release also stated, "Woodbine Entertainment appreciates the extraordinary support and encouragement to proceed from the Standardbred racing industry participants. The valuable feedback received from owners and trainers will help us, along with the AGCO, to build upon these underlying principles to achieve the overall intent of SRIAI for our stakeholders.As such, we will continue to work through the regulatory details with the AGCO in the coming months, with a view to continuing our commitment to deliver the highest level of racing integrity at our racetracks. We thank the Meadowlands and American Racing for working with us as excellent partners throughout this process. (WEG)